Our latest Indie Rock Hit Parade session is perhaps our most intimate and intense yet. A founding member of two celebrated NYC bands, Grizzly Bear and Department Of Eagles, Daniel Rossen is nothing short of a mainstay. The soft-spoken Rossen commands his contributions with an understated charisma. Having stepped out on his own with the 2012 EP Silent Hour/Golden Mile, Rossen continues to showcase the material he’s written outside of his main projects.

The session begins with a song from that EP, “Silent Song,” in which Rossen’s chiming 12-string guitar creates a torrent of notes to underscore his pleading vocals. As for the other two songs he performed for us, they remain unreleased. “Not Coming Back” and “Made To Rise” were written several years ago, around the time Rossen was moving between the city and the countryside. The feeling of boundless uncertainty carries through each song; Rossen has always had a knack for capturing fragility and caution in his lyrics. Rossen joked that, in 50 or so years, he’ll release a collection of these demos. Until then, enjoy Daniel’s live renditions of these undiscovered gems.

Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes), Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear, Department of Eagles), Victoria Legrand (Beach House) and Hamilton Leithauser (The Walkmen) will be performing Clark’s classic album, No Other, originally released in 1974. Clark wrote or co-wrote many of The Byrds’ best songs including “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better,” “Here Without You,” “The World Turns All Around Her,” “She Don’t Care About Time” and “Eight Miles High.”

Clark started The Byrds in 1964 after he met Roger McGuinn and along with David Crosby, Michael Clark and Chris Hillman, set off on a path to change rock influenced folk music in the Sixties. Clark released his first solo album in 1967, while he was still in The Byrds. When he released No Other, it was considered to be a commercial and critical failure. Musicians however, have clung to it’s folk-rock songwriting and arrangements for years. Songs like “Silver Raven,” the eight minute epic “Some Misunderstanding,” and the soulful “Lady of The North,” give the album its lasting resonance. “What it adds up to,” writes Thom Jurek in AllMusic “is a sprawling, ambitious work that brought elements of country, folk, jazzed-out gospel, blues, and trippy rock to bear on a song cycle that reflects the mid-’70s better than anything from that time, yet sounds hauntingly timely even now.

Joining the band in the tribute will be Iain Matthews of Fairport Convention, Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, with members of Lower Dens, Celebration, Cass McCombs’ band and Mt. Royal rounding the lineup out. Beach House had this to say about the album on Pitchfork:

Though we generally love all of his music, we are most infatuated with his 1974 record, No Other. It feels like a special moment in Gene Clark’s songwriting. At first, the overdone, studio nature of the album feels overbearing: the electric violin, the female chorus, the bass riffs, the layered guitar sequences. However, with more listens, Gene Clark’s very unique lyrics, voice and spirit become the central focus. It’s one of those records where each time you listen, you love a different song the most. Every song is nuanced and amazing in its own way.

Go here for more information and tickets to the show. Below, listen to several songs from the album.

Diplo has worked his remixing magic again, and this time it’s with indie-rockers Grizzly Bear on the song, “Will Calls.” The original version of the song was recorded before the band started their official tracking for Shields, released earlier this month on Shields Expanded and Shields B-Sides. Diplo’s remix is a slow build into the groove that totally respects the vocal from Grizzly Bear’s lead singer, Ed Droste, and the beat skitters soulfully in a way that “My Love” by Justin Timberlake does. Download or stream it below.

Baltimore band Secret Mountains were the subject of Weathervane Music’s latest Shaking Through episode. Tasked with writing a complete song in two days, the dreamy folk six-piece came up with the beautifully meaningful “High Horses”. You can download it for free below, and watch the episode here.

Local emcee Ethel Cee was featured in this week’s Key Studio Session. The deftly talented rapper has a background in slam poetry performance but latched onto hip-hop after experimenting with adding music to her spoken word pieces. Head here to watch the video of Ethel Cee’s performance and download “End It On This” below.

Witty hip-hop group Ground Up dropped their new mixtape on Tuesday over at datpiff.com. The Philly trio will be playing a record release party at The TLA on September 29th but before then, get yourself a download of the album below.

Brooklyn indie band Grizzly Bear had a smash with 2009’s Veckatimest. Now they’re back with a new collection of songs featured on the just-released album Shields. “Yet Again” is one of those tracks that hooks right into your brain, in a good way. You can get a free download of the track below in exchange for your email.

Tamarin is a local folky band with some real country twang. They are releasing a new album on October 9th called Shake the Ghost and to get you ready, they’ve posted the song “Seems a Laugh” as a free download on their Soundcloud. Take a listen below.

Grizzly Bear release their new album Shields today. This is the quartet’s fourth album. The band, including Chris Bear, Ed Droste, Daniel Rossen and Chris Taylor, released their last album, Veckatimest, in 2009. Below, in exchange for your e-mail address, download “Yet Again.” Continue reading →

As though the song couldn’t get any catchier already, Philly lo-fi disco duo Night Panther – descendants of White Birds and Drink Up Buttercup – recorded and released a cover of Grizzly Bear’s hit “Two Weeks” last month. It’s a bright and blooming rendition, reaching for (and getting close to) Passion Pit stratospheres. Download it below, and catch the band in concert this Saturday night, September 15, when it performs at Kung Fu Necktie with Maria Minerva. Tickets to the 21+ show are $10 and available here.

Grizzly Bear have announced the release of its new album on September 18th. The album is yet-to-be-titled and the band launch a massive tour in the Fall. No Philly date has been scheduled yet. If you have any concern at all that Grizzly Bear won’t play Philly, the band will be in Washington, D.C on September 20th and 21st and in New York on September 24th. Complete tour information is here. Below, listen to the new song “Sleeping Ute.”

This month’s episode of Shaking Through—the online audio and video collaboration between Weathervane Music and WXPN—features a song by Family Band titled “Again.” The Brooklyn-based act is composed of husband-wife duo Kim Krans and Jonny Ollsin as well as family friend Scott Hirsch; the episode was curated and produced by Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear.

More from the folks at Shaking Through:

With one EP and one full length under their belts, Family Band has traditionally recorded within the confines of their hand-built cabin in the Catskill Mountains of New York. “I totally respect making records on your own,” says Rossen. “That’s how we’ve always done everything. But I just thought it was a great opportunity for them to get in with somebody outside of their inner circle, to work with somebody else to finish something. And I’m not really used to working with other bands, so it was a fun way for me to get outside of my own circle too, to try something with somebody else.”

He continues, “Showing the process shows the effort that went into what [Family Band] made. So you appreciate what it means to listen to the music they make; you understand the effort and the heart that goes into it. That’s great.”

You can watch the finished video and listen to the track below; visit the Shaking Through website to see photos, interviews, and more from the session.

Family Band is the Catskills-based duo of Kim Krans and Jonny Ollsin. The two recently recorded a session for Shaking Through, WXPN and Weathervane Music’s online video and audio initiative for emerging bands. The session was curated and produced by Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear.

The full episode will be released on Tuesday, September 20th. Below, watch a preview of that session for the song “Again.”

About The Key

Philadelphia: Home to a rich musical history, a unique musical identity, and one of the nation's most thriving musical communities. In a scene filled with so many local bands worth listening to, there will always be new music to discover—and The Key is your source for finding it. Brought to you by WXPN—the non-commercial public radio station that World Cafe, XPN2, and XPoNential Music Festival call home—The Key covers all local music in Greater Philly and beyond.GET IN TOUCH

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About The Key

Philadelphia: Home to a rich musical history, a unique musical identity, and one of the nation's most thriving musical communities. In a scene filled with so many local bands worth listening to, there will always be new music to discover—and The Key is your source for finding it. Brought to you by WXPN—the non-commercial public radio station that World Cafe, XPN2, and XPoNential Music Festival call home—The Key covers all local music in Greater Philly and beyond.GET IN TOUCH